Remote control of various electronic equipment, such as televisions, video cassette recorders, and air conditioners, with remote controllers, remote controllers are required to operate reliably.
A conventional remote controller disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-173198 will be described with referring to FIGS. 4 and 5.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional remote controller. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the remote controller. The conventional remote controller includes upper wiring board 1 having wiring patterns (not shown) on upper and lower surfaces thereof, lower wiring board 2 having wiring patterns (not shown) on upper and lower surfaces thereof, and holder 3 made of insulating resin. Holder 3 has plural hooks 3A projecting from upper and lower surfaces thereof. Upper wiring board 1 and lower wiring board 2 are mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of holder 3 with hooks 3A, respectively. Operation member 4 made of rubber is laid on the upper surface of upper wiring board 1 and has plural operation sections 4A having substantially dome shapes. Movable contact 4B formed on a lower surface of operation sections 4A face plural fixed contacts 1A by a predetermined space between them, providing switch contacts. Electronic components, such as light emitting diode 5A and microprocessor 5B, are mounted on upper wiring board 1 and lower wiring board 2, and provides control circuit 5 for transmitting a remote control signal. Connector 6 is mounted on upper wiring board 1. Multi-directional control switch 7 operable in upper, lower, left, and right directions is mounted on lower wiring board 2. Upper wiring board 1, holder 3, and operation member 4 are accommodated in case 8 made of insulating resin having substantially a box-shape. Lower wiring board 2 is fixed to case 8 with screws 9. Knob 7A mounted on multi-directional control switch 7 and control sections 4A of operation member 4 protrude upward from openings 8B provided in the upper surface of case 8. Positioning boss 3B protruding from the lower surface of holder 3 is inserted into positioning hole 2A of lower wiring board 2.
Positioning boss 8A protruding from the lower surface of case 8 is inserted into positioning hole 1B of the upper wiring board 1 as to positioning upper wiring board 1 with reference to case 8. Boss 3B is and positioning hole 2A positions lower wiring board 2 and holder 3, thus providing the remote controller.
This remote controller is directed to electronic equipment, and a predetermined operation section 4A for, e.g., turning on/off or volume control, is pressed, thus allowing movable contact 4B on the lower surface of control section 4A to contact fixed contact 1A as to executing an electrical connection and disconnection of the switch contacts. Then, infrared ray remote control signal corresponding to it is transmitted from control circuit 5 to the electronic equipment, and turns on and off a power supply or increases/decreases of volume of the electronic equipment remotely.
The remote controller is directed to electronic equipment while plural menu selections or a cursor is displayed, for example, on a screen of a television receiver. Knob 7A is activated in the upper, lower, left, and right directions to activate multi-directional control switch 7. Then, infrared ray remote control signal corresponding to it is transmitted from control circuit 5, and moves the cursor in the directions on the menu on the screen to perform menu selection.
In the conventional remote controller, holder 3 and lower wiring board 2 are positioned with positioning boss 3B and positioning hole 2A, and case 8 and upper wiring board 1 are positioned with positioning boss 8A and positioning hole 1B. However, case 8 and lower wiring board 2 are not positioned. When screws 9 is fastened to secure lower wiring board 2 to case 8, board 2 may be displaced. In such case, components mounted on lower wiring board 2, e.g., knob 7A mounted on multi-directional control switch 7 may be displaced. When knob 7A is displaced at a large amount, a rim of knob 7A may contact an opening in the upper surface of case 8, hence preventing switching operation.